Colorado ranks twenty-fourth in population among U.S. states with more
than 4.3 million residents. Approximately 69 percent of the state's
population is concentrated in Colorado's Front Range, which includes
Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer,
Pueblo, and Weld Counties. Douglas County, located southwest of Denver,
was the fastest-growing county in the United States each year between 1990
and 2001. Colorado is ethnically diverse, which makes it possible for drug
distributors of all ethnic backgrounds to blend easily with the resident
population.

The primary drug market areas in Colorado are in the Front Range
counties. Denver, the state's capital and largest city, is a primary regional
distribution center for methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and MDMA.
Wholesale distributors in Denver supply midlevel and retail distributors with
these drugs in virtually all cities in Colorado, as well as cities in several
other states. Colorado Springs, south of Denver, is a regional distribution
center for a variety of illicit drugs, principally methamphetamine, cocaine, and
MDMA. Greeley, 45 minutes north of Denver, is a significant regional
distribution center for methamphetamine and cocaine distributed in Iowa,
Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming, and other west central states. Boulder, also north
of Denver, is a distribution center for marijuana distributed throughout the
west central region of the country and is a primary national distribution center
for psilocybin.

Colorado's well-developed transportation infrastructure and its
central location in the western United States are ideal for the movement of
licit and illicit goods into and through the state. Private and rental vehicles
and commercial trucks frequently are used to transport drugs into and through
Colorado. Couriers on commercial aircraft, buses, and passenger railways also
are used to transport illicit drugs, although to a lesser extent.

Drug transporters primarily use Interstates 25, 70, and 76 and
U.S. Highways 36, 50, 85, and 160 to transport drugs into and through Colorado.
Interstates 25 and 70 intersect in Denver and are frequently traveled by Mexican
drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). These two interstates provide access to
many other U.S. states: I-25 extends from near the U.S.-Mexico border to
Montana, and I-70 extends from Utah to Maryland. Interstate 76 in eastern
Colorado connects I-70 with I-80 in Nebraska and is used by individuals
transporting drugs eastward from Denver. U.S. Highway 50, which connects Grand
Junction and Pueblo; US 85, which connects Denver and Greeley with Cheyenne,
Wyoming; and US 36 between Denver and Boulder frequently are used by criminal
groups to transport illicit drugs between drug markets. Law enforcement
officials in Colorado commonly seize drugs on interstate highways, often as part
of Operation Pipeline initiatives.

Operation Pipeline

Operation Pipeline is a national highway interdiction program
supported by the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC). Drug seizures from private
vehicles are reported to Operation Pipeline by federal, state, and local law
enforcement agencies operating nationwide along the highways and interstates
most frequently used to transport illicit drugs and drug proceeds.

Denver International Airport and many small municipal and
private airfields facilitate drug transportation into Colorado. More than 36
million passengers transited Denver International Airport in 2001, ranking it
the fifth busiest airport in the United States. Law enforcement officials report
that drugs usually are not transported on aircraft directly from foreign source
countries into the state. However, Operation Jetway data indicate that drugs
have been transported into Colorado on aircraft from states such as California,
New York, and Texas.

Operation Jetway

Operation Jetway is an EPIC-supported domestic interdiction
program. Drug seizures are reported to Operation Jetway by federal, state, and
local law enforcement agencies across the nation at airports, train stations,
bus stations, package shipment facilities, U.S. Post Offices, and airport
hotels/motels.

Mexican DTOs based in Nayarit and Sinaloa, Mexico, that operate
in several western and southwestern states transport wholesale quantities of
methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana into Colorado. Mexican criminal
groups also transport wholesale quantities of these drugs, usually directly from
sources of supply in Mexico. Mexican DTOs distribute methamphetamine, cocaine,
heroin, and marijuana at the wholesale level in Colorado, while Mexican criminal
groups typically seek to maximize profits by distributing these drugs in both
wholesale and retail quantities.

The percentage of Colorado residents who report abusing illicit
drugs is higher than the percentage nationwide. According to the 1999 and 2000
National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), 8.9 percent of individuals age
12 and over surveyed in Colorado reported having abused an illicit drug in the
month prior to the survey compared with 6.3 percent nationwide.

Drug-related treatment admissions in Colorado are at relatively
high levels. According to the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division (ADAD) of the
Colorado Department of Human Services, admissions to publicly funded treatment
facilities for drug abuse increased from 11,757 in 1997 to 14,511 in 1999.
Thereafter, admissions to treatment facilities declined to 13,109 in 2000 and
13,039 in 2001. (See Table 1.) Admissions for marijuana abuse were higher than
for any other illicit drug from 1997 through 2001. Treatment admissions for
cocaine abuse ranked second. Heroin accounted for the third-highest number of
treatment admissions until 2001 when admissions for methamphetamine abuse
surpassed those for heroin. Since 1999 treatment admissions for methamphetamine
abuse have increased annually, while admissions for cocaine, heroin, and
marijuana have declined.

In Colorado the percentage of federal sentences that were
drug-related was lower than the percentage nationwide; however, methamphetamine
and cocaine each accounted for a higher percentage of the total drug-related
federal sentences in Colorado than nationwide. According to data from the U.S.
Sentencing Commission (USSC), drug-related sentences constituted 31.8 percent of
all federal sentences in Colorado in fiscal year (FY) 2001 compared with 41.2
percent nationally. Methamphetamine-related offenses accounted for 30.8 percent
of drug-related federal sentences in Colorado compared with 14.2 percent
nationally. Powdered cocaine accounted for 34.0 percent of drug-related federal
sentences in Colorado compared with 22.1 percent nationally.

Drug-related crimes and violent crimes are common in Colorado
but are decreasing. Violent crime in Colorado, including drug-related violent
crime, declined throughout the 1990s. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation
reported that arrests for drug-related offenses decreased almost 9 percent, from
18,330 in 1999 to 16,686 in 2000. The rates of juvenile and adult arrests for
violent crimes per 100,000 population also declined from 1990 through 2000,
reaching a level close to the record low set in 1980.

The financial impact on Colorado's government from substance
abuse-related costs is significant. In 1998, the most recent year for which
these data are available, Colorado spent over $845 million--approximately $217
per resident--on substance abuse-related programs. The amount accounted for more
than 12 percent of the state's total expenditures. According to the Denver
Department of Public Safety, a large percentage of these funds are allocated to
law enforcement and administrative costs, and approximately 6 percent is
allocated for drug abuse treatment and prevention.